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How To Address A Visit from MPAA Senior VP Rich Taylor?
tedswiss writes "Fate has dropped a unique opportunity upon my lap: I teach at a moderately small independent school who has as one of its alums Richard Taylor. Mr. Taylor is both speaking at our start-of-year festivities and being honored with this year's "Distinguished Alum Award." Having followed and been disgusted by the MPAA's corporate practices regarding DRM and government lobbying in the past (Anyone remember DeCSS?), I would love to make his visit a chance to truly educate our student body, not just indoctrinate them. The school administration is sympathetic to my plight, but I want to present them with more than just my complaints. How would you best make use of this opportunity if you found yourself in my shoes?"
I suppose it depends on the opportunities and contexts you have access to (what classes you teach, whether you can hold a seminar or discussion panel before/after his address, etc). But my primary advice would be:
Be respectful. Think teamwork. Don't try to rain on the parade the college is throwing for him. Nobody will thank you for that. Not that you seem to be leaning that way, but it bears mentioning on Slashdot.
Consider sitting down with Mr. Taylor privately (asap, if it'll be in addition to other things). The article you linked said he seems willing to take outside concerns seriously. It sure seems that he could be a great resource in 1. getting the MPAA to take consumer/citizen concerns more seriously, and 2. helping educate the student body about what's at stake here (on both sides).
Perhaps you could set up a panel on intellectual property/DRM while he's in town (you, him, maybe some other relevant folks), and invite the student body. Man, I'd love to go to that.
Seriously.
Somebody more powerful than you thought it a good idea to bestow this honor on him. I wouldn't ruin the ceremony by sandbagging him. Perhaps you could invite him to your class to discuss some issues but I wouldn't use this opportunity to harangue him and make yourself look like a whiny prick in the process.
The word that worries me in your discussion above is where you say that you have been "disgusted" with the Motion Picture Association's activities.
If you've got a distinguished and influential guest addressing your class, you need to show him respect.
You are not in the business of making or financing motion pictures or record albums, so you have no real stake in the argument. It does not affect your ability to earn a living and feed your family one way or another. Richard Taylor, on the other hand, speaks for tens of thousands of people who earn their livings making and financing motion pictures and record albums. He wants to present their point of view, and he knows what he is talking about.
So show some class, act like a gentleman, and make sure your students are respectful as well.
You won't convince or influence anybody with scorn and invective. If you listen to Richard Taylor, you might learn a few things and better understand his point of view.
What I've always wondered about companies that require DRM on their products is simply this: why do they insist on making their paying customers suffer, which those that don't bother supporting the content creators get a more convenient product?
With movies, the pirated version usually jumps straight to the movie without going through previews or FBI warnings. It doesn't include slow, time-wasting menus. It doesn't force you to skip by commercials for other movies. It just gets you to the product and lets you view it with minimum hassle.
As an added bonus, the pirated version doesn't prevent me from transcoding to a format my iPod can support or prevent me from storing it on my computer and streaming it via my TiVo. If I ever get an XBox360 or a PS3, I can stream them to that too.
With a DRM-encumbered movie, I can't do any of that.
Why do they insist on giving their paying customers a product that's simply worse than the pirated version? Why do they think we'll put up with it?
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
I've read through a lot of the ideas on here, and I figure it might be worthwhile to throw some of my own words into the mix.
There are a lot of anarchists on here - they don't like to be called that, but that's what they are. There are a lot of people who wouldn't know copyright law if it hit them in the face, but insist on speaking out as though they're authorities on it. There are people here who are quiet and informed, and quiet and uninformed. There are informed brawlers, soft-spoken lawyers, writers, programmers, and pirates. And, there are a lot of people who would push their own agenda on anything that comes their way, even to the detriment of you and your class.
Trust none of them.
Your students are about to meet somebody who is at the heart of one of the major social issues of our time. Get them reading up on it, make sure they're reading both sides of the issue, and then leave it in their hands. Don't put your trust in Slashdot, or some online forum - if you do that, you're putting it into the hands of a bunch of people who you've probably never met, and who may not even be who they say they are. Put your trust in your students - give them what they need to be informed, and then trust them to understand it (and if they disagree with your conclusions, keep in mind that YOU could be the one who misunderstood something). The most important part of education in the end, the part that ultimately can save you from something terrible, is learning to think critically for yourself and make up your own mind. Let them do that.
Robert B. Marks
Author, Demonsbane in Diablo Archive
Just remember that a man who was the senior vice president for external affairs of the MPAA has probably heard all of your questions before and has a prepared response for each of them. Be prepared to have your questions dismissed without any kind of real answer and quite possibly twisted around into something completely different. Read old interviews with him, watch videos. Try to get an idea of what to expect.
If a professional weasel with his background and in his position lets himself get blind-sided by a couple of University students with an obvious axe to grind then, first off, something is very wrong with the world.
And secondly, if you think that's what really happened, count your fingers. And your toes. And review exactly what was said by whom, and ask yourself if you have any way of proving it.